Lona Study + Dick Kaneshiro Visit!

 

Dick checks out the complete book spreads of Lona: A Fairy Tale spread out on my attic floor.

Halfland Hero Dick Kaneshiro agreed to come for a socially distanced visit the other day. It was fantastic to see him and get caught up on the last few years. I learned more about his dreams and passions and felt closer as a friend and fan than ever before.

Blow this up to catch the extraordinary detail and beauty of some of my favorite images from Dare's book.

I'm delivering on the promised follow-up on the remarkable way Lona was laid out. At top, you see the complete book in spreads in page order. It's glorious to see as a whole, and again, I'll say that to me, it's one of the most exquisite works of art ever made. What I wanted to point out is how the Dare used the spread. She didn't crop the images to the spine but rather extended past it to cover 2/3 of each spread along with a slender column of the story's text. Image rules in this book, to be sure. But how much less impactful would each incredible image have been had they cropped to fit the ratio of the book? The out-sized smash in your face of her full compositions sinks in down to the bone for me.

There were variations on how each image was used, some set to the right of the text, some to the left, and some spreads held two images as if cinematic frames, moving the narrative action forward. Each spread's layout was considered individually for its most potent result.

I will always remember her example and let my images be shown in the way they most need to be seen.

Dick was kind enough to come over to take a look at my gimbal. 

I could not balance my live-action shooting camera on it to even see whether it was working. Dick is skilled in MOCO and everything technical, and he generously gave it a try. He succeeded in setting it up for me in short order and also found the best modes for shooting the mermaid at the beach. We were both impressed with the gimbal, especially for its small cost*.

* not/no/never sponsored, just an honest opinion.